On
this date, July 20, 2006, a Pedophile in Texas, Robert James Anderson was
executed by lethal injection by that State. He was convicted of the June 9, 1992
of 5-year-old Audra Ann Reeves. I am glad that justice was served
and I do not like the idea of seeing him go to LWOP as he would have gotten
protective custody. I got the information about him from Wikipedia and
clarkprosecutor.org.
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Robert James Anderson
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5-year-old Audra
Ann Reeves
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Robert James Anderson (May 29, 1966 – July 20, 2006) was an American criminal
convicted and executed for the murder of a five-year-old girl. He was born in
Great Lakes, Illinois.
Crimes
Anderson
kidnapped and murdered five-year-old Audra Ann Reeves, in Amarillo, Texas on
June 9, 1992. Anderson told police that he kidnapped Reeves as she was
returning home from playing in a park. He brought her inside his house and
unsuccessfully tried to rape her. He then beat, stabbed, and drowned Reeves,
then stored her body in a styrofoam ice chest. Her body was found that day by a
neighbor throwing out trash. Anderson was identified as the person who
discarded the chest, was apprehended by police, and confessed almost
immediately.
Anderson
said he committed the crime after a dispute with his wife of eight months. The
Associated Press quoted Anderson as saying, "The whole day revolved around
the fight. She stormed out of the house and said when she returned she didn't
want to find me.
Execution
Anderson
was sentenced to death and was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July
20, 2006.
Anderson v. State, 932 S.W.2d 502(Tex.Cr.App. 1996) (Direct Appeal)
Final Meal:
Lasagna, mashed potatoes with gravy, beets, green beans, fried okra, two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream, a fruit pie, tea and lemonade.
Final Words:
"I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I have regretted this for a long time. I am sorry." Anderson also apologized to his family.
Internet Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Robert Anderson)
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Robert James Anderson
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Inmate:
Anderson, Robert James
Date of Birth: 5/29/66
TDCJ#: 999084
Date Received: 12/27/93
Education: 12 years
Occupation: security officer
Date of Offense: 6/9/92
Native County: Great Lakes, Illinois
Race: White
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 6 ft 02 in
Weight: 149
Date of Birth: 5/29/66
TDCJ#: 999084
Date Received: 12/27/93
Education: 12 years
Occupation: security officer
Date of Offense: 6/9/92
Native County: Great Lakes, Illinois
Race: White
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 6 ft 02 in
Weight: 149
Texas Attorney General Media Advisory
MEDIA
ADVISORY - Monday, July 17, 2006 - Robert James Anderson Scheduled For
Execution
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On June 9, 1992, Audra Reeves went outside to play. Robert James Anderson abducted Reeves as she was passing his residence and took her inside, where he attempted to rape her, then choked, stabbed, beat and drowned her. In the early afternoon of the same day, several witnesses reported seeing Anderson pushing a grocery cart up the street with a white ice chest inside. One witness reported seeing Anderson near a dumpster in an alley. One of the witnesses found the ice chest containing Audra’s body in the dumpster. The witness gave a description of Anderson to the police. Anderson was arrested later in the day after he was identified as the individual who pushed the grocery cart. Anderson gave police a written statement in which he admitted to killing Audra and stuffing her body in a white ice chest and dumping the chest in a dumpster. Anderson’s confession was corroborated by other evidence at trial.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A Potter County grand jury indicted Anderson for the capital murder of Audra Reeves. On November 10, 1993, a jury found Anderson guilty of capital murder. The same jury sentenced him to death on November 15, 1993.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Anderson’s conviction and sentence on September 11, 1996. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 1997, denied Anderson’s petition for writ of certiorari. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Anderson’s state application for writ of habeas corpus on November 17, 1999.
A U.S. district court on March 23, 2004, denied Anderson’s federal writ of habeas corpus. After filing a notice of appeal in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Anderson, sought to waive all further federal appeals. His appellate counsel filed a motion asking the Fifth Circuit to stay all proceedings in that court and remand the case to the U.S. district court for the limited purpose of having Anderson psychologically evaluated to determine his competency to waive his appeals. The 5th Circuit Court granted Anderson’s motion and returned his case to the federal district court on July 20, 2004, to determine his mental capacity to terminate further federal habeas corpus proceedings on his behalf and seek an execution date. Anderson was evaluated on September 13, 2004, and found to be competent, and on December 7, 2004, the district court ruled that Anderson was mentally competent to make the decision to waive his appeals and to instruct his counsel to dismiss any pending federal habeas corpus appeals. On February 10, 2005, Anderson filed a motion to dismiss his appeal in the 5th Circuit Court. The court granted the motion on February 17, 2005.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
Anderson does not have any prior convictions. However, the State presented an overwhelming amount of evidence of Anderson’s long-standing obsession with and abuse of young girls, and other antisocial acts.
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Anderson wrote a letter to another inmate admitting his long-standing desire for young girls and that he had taken his anger and desire out on the victim in this case.
• Anderson’s older biological sister, testified that Anderson had been sent to the Methodist Children’s Home and later hospitalized for his obsession with young girls.
• Anderson’s eleven year-old niece, Charity Anderson, testified that Anderson had lived with her family for several months beginning in January, 1992. Anderson often babysat Charity, her six-year-old brother Jeremiah, and her eight-year-old sister Raven. Anderson often stared at Charity and frequently invited Raven to sit on his lap. On one occasion, Anderson picked up Jeremiah by the throat and held him for several minutes. Anderson told the boy’s parents that Jeremiah had hurt his neck with a stick.
• Rebekah Anderson, Anderson’s stepsister, testified that, when she was five years old, she was sitting on Anderson’s lap. Anderson unzipped his pants and took off Rebekah’s shorts. Their parents interrupted them before Anderson could proceed any further. When Rebekah was three, her sister, Delores Davis, witnessed Anderson with his hand beneath Rebekah’s skirt while she sat on his lap.
• Myra Jean Anderson, Anderson’s biological sister, testified that Anderson began sexually assaulting her when she was seven years old. At first, Anderson had Myra fondle him, but around the age of nine or ten years, Anderson began forcing her to engage in oral sex. When Myra was thirteen, Anderson tried to have intercourse with her, but they were caught by their parents. Anderson was also physically abusive: when Myra was seven, Anderson broke off the chain guard on her bicycle, then pushed her down a hill, causing her to fall and severely cut her leg. Also, Anderson held Myra down and repeatedly hit her on her knees with a baseball bat.
• Helena Cristina Garza, Anderson’s stepsister, testified that Anderson began fondling her when she was six years old. As Helena got older, Anderson forced her to fondle him. At the age of ten, Anderson forced her to have intercourse and continued to do so about once a week, for approximately one year. Anderson also forced Helena to perform oral sex. To gain Helena’s cooperation, Anderson struck her or threatened her with a baseball bat. When Helena was fifteen or sixteen years old, Anderson took her for a ride on his motorcycle. Once in a secluded area, Anderson raped Helena.
• Carla Rene Burch, a friend of Myra, spent the night at the Anderson home when she was twelve years old. She was awakened in the middle of the night by something touching her face. Anderson was standing in front of her with only a towel wrapped around him. Anderson had pulled the blanket off Carla and raised her nightgown; he asked her to accompany him to his room. Carla refused but Anderson persisted until Carla tried to awaken Myra.
• Anderson’s former wife, Debbie Kay Anderson – who was described as mentally handicapped with an IQ of 69 — testified that Anderson was physically abusive towards her. Debbie was seen with extensive bruising on her shoulders, arms, and face. Anderson often padlocked Debbie in their apartment when he left.
• Anderson attempted to sexually assault a two-year-old girl his wife Debbie was babysitting. Debbie heard the girl crying and walked into a room to discover that Anderson had taken off the girl’s diaper and pulled down his pants. Anderson grabbed Debbie and began choking and hitting her, telling her not to tell anyone.
• Debbie also described how Anderson frequently drove to the park and watched children or watched children from the apartment. Anderson would then go in their bathroom and masturbate.
• A forensic psychiatrist who testified for the defense diagnosed Anderson as a pedophile (the preferred choice of children as sexual partners), with some trends toward sexual sadism.
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Robert James Anderson
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Robert
James Anderson, 40, was executed by lethal injection on 20 July 2006 in
Huntsville, Texas for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of a
5-year-old girl.
On
9 June 1992, Audra Reeves was walking home from an Amarillo park. As she passed
in front of Anderson's house, Anderson, then 26, abducted her and took her
inside. After attempting to rape her, Anderson choked her, beat her with a
stool, and stabbed her with a paring knife and a barbecue fork. Anderson then
took the girl into the bathroom and drowned her in the bathtub. He then placed
her body in a foam ice chest and, using a grocery cart to transport it, left it
in a dumpster behind another residence. The ice chest containing the girl's
nude body was found in the dumpster by a homeowner throwing out his trash.
The
person who found the body also witnessed Anderson near the dumpster earlier.
Other witnesses reported seeing Anderson pushing a grocery cart along the
street, carrying a white ice chest. The witnesses gave a description of the
suspect to police, and Anderson was arrested as he was walking back home.
Anderson gave a written confession in which he admitted kidnapping and killing
Audra. He said he had recently had an argument with his wife.
Anderson
had no prior criminal arrests, but ample evidence was presented at his
punishment hearing of his previous sexual assaults on young girls and his
violent nature.
His
stepsister, Rebekah Anderson, testified that when she was five years old,
Anderson had her sit on his lap, then he unzipped his pants and removed her
shorts. Rebekah's sister, Delores Davis, testified that when Rebekah was three,
she saw Anderson with his hand beneath Rebekah's skirt as she sat on his lap.
Anderson's 11-year-old niece, Charity Anderson, testified that about six months
before the murder, Anderson babysat for her and her brother and sister. He
frequently invited Charity's 8-year-old sister, Raven, to sit on his lap, and
on one occasion, he held her 6-year-old brother, Jeremiah, by the throat for
several minutes. Anderson's biological sister, Myra, testified that Anderson
sexually assaulted her from age 7 to age 13. He forced her to engage in oral
sex and attempted to have intercourse with her. Myra also testified that
Anderson pushed her down a hill once, and that he once held her down and hit
her repeatedly on her knees with a baseball bat. Another stepsister, Helena
Garza, testified that Anderson began fondling her when she was six years old.
When she was ten, Anderson forced her to have intercourse and perform oral sex
about once a week, for about a year, by striking or threatening her with a
baseball bat. Anderson also raped Helena when she was 15 or 16. Myra's friend,
Carla Burch, testified that when she was 12, she spent the night at the
Anderson home. She was awakened during the night by someone touching her face. Anderson
was standing in front of her wearing only a towel. He had pulled the covers off
of Carla and raised her nightgown. He asked her to come to his room, but she
refused. Anderson's ex-wife, Debbie Kay Anderson, testified that Anderson was
physically abusive towards her, and that he often padlocked her in their
apartment when he left. Debbie also testified that when she was babysitting a
2-year-old girl, she heard the girl crying and walked into the room to see the
girl with her diaper removed and Anderson with his pants down. Anderson then
grabbed Debbie and began choking and hitting her, telling her not to tell
anyone.
A
jury convicted Anderson of capital murder in November 1993 and sentenced him to
death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence
in September 1996. His subsequent state appeals were denied. In March 2004, a
U.S. district court denied his federal writ of habeas corpus. Anderson filed an
appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but then he decided to waive
all further federal appeals. After a psychological evaluation found him
competent to waive his appeals, the Fifth Circuit dismissed his appeal in
February 2005.
In
the competency hearing before U.S. Magistrate Clinton Averitte, Anderson stated
that his victim often appeared to him in nightmares. He said that, in prison,
he dedicated himself to a Christian way of life, and that God had forgiven him
for the killing. "God has granted me peace that I didn't have
before," Anderson told Averitte. "I don't want to hurt anybody any
longer, and I want to be executed."
In
1998, Anderson was attacked by a fellow death row inmate who stabbed him 67
times with a shank. Anderson said the attack was due to a race-related prison
gang extortion effort and was unrelated to his crime.
"My
whole life is a regret," Anderson said in a recent interview from death
row. "I made bad choices all the way up and down as far back as age ten
... I should have been in prison when I was 15." He said that the day of
the killing was "a messed-up day ... a lot of things went wrong." He
said that an argument with his wife of about eight months set him off.
"She stormed out of the house and said when she returned, she didn't want
to find me." He said that at the time of his arrest, "the whole day
had slipped me mind ... for about an hour or so, I didn't understand what the
cops were asking me. Then suddenly, it just snapped ... everything came
flooding back, all at once."
"I'm
actually looking forward to dying," Anderson said in the interview.
"I've made peace with the Lord and I'm trying to make peace with my
family. And I have tried to make apologies with the victim's family over the
years, with no responses. I didn't expect them to respond." As his
execution date drew near Anderson did not file any of the appeals that
condemned prisoners usually file in an effort to have their execution stayed.
Anderson
took full responsibility for his crime. "There was nobody else, just
me," he said. "She was a totally innocent victim."
"I
am sorry for the pain I have caused you," Anderson told the victim's
grandmother, Grace Lawson, at his execution. "I have regretted this for a
long time. I am sorry. I only ask that you remember the Lord because He
remembers us and He forgives us if we ask Him." Anderson also apologized
to his own family for "the pain of all the years and for putting you
through all the things we had to go through." The lethal injection was
then started. As the drugs began taking effect, Anderson prayed. He was pronounced
dead at 6:19 p.m.
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